


Echoes in Neon

by LeiatheRebel



Category: Mass Effect 3 - Fandom, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Also Grunt is a small son, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, By That I Mean A Lot of Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Guns, Lots of Angst, Multi, Outer Spaacccceeee!, Shepard is an angsty lady, a very small krogan son, who has not done anything wrong in his entire life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 08:35:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12428982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeiatheRebel/pseuds/LeiatheRebel
Summary: What if Reyes Vidal never left with the Initiative?The galaxy is at war with a threat beyond comprehension or understanding. Although Katia Shepard had foretold the coming of the threat- known as Reapers- it is only when thousands of battle ships and monstrous creatures pour into the galaxy does anyone believe her.Now forced to abandon Earth and play diplomatic relations while performing impossible feats on the scorched battlefields of the planetary resistance on Mars and Palavan, Shepard is disillusioned and fearful. It is only when an old contact, neither friend nor foe, sends an email does she encounter the mysterious ally that can turn the tide... That is if she can fully trust him.From the neon drenched back alleys of Citadel to the destroyed and desolate frontlines of war, Reyes's presence drastically alters the events of Mass Effect 3. But is it for the better or for the worst?





	1. Heads Will Roll

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! 
> 
> This is new and I am very excited for it! I'm trying to not to just retell the events of ME3 just with Reyes, so there will be a lot of canon divergence :) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Echoes in Neon  
A Mass Effect 3 Alternate Universe Fan Fiction  
Chapter One: Heads Will Roll

Although her body felt safe and tangled between the sheets and blankets of her bed, her mind was still in London.  
  
She could still hear the large booming calibration noise before the skin searing laser ripped into the buildings that surrounded her. The Sky Cars, transmogrified into comets, spiraling around her. The screams below deeply rooted her into the cement blocks of the building she was standing on top of. One of the sentient machines, in the corner of her eye like a descending spider and began to roar like a feral beast in repose. It’s laser struck her almost instantly, and her body was soon sent spiraling back into her bed sheets, sweating and panting, but alive.  
  
Her muscles groaned and ached from the physicality of the last missions on Mars and Palaven. She went into the bathroom and quickly got ready for a shower. She had taken one earlier in the evening, but needed to busy herself. As she turned the handle of her shower, she had noticed the blue, yellow, and black patching that dotted her skin like distant planets. She peered at them as if they were foreign to her, before shaking her head and stepping inside. She let the water run cold, and felt her body stiffen at the assault of cool water, before it melted into nothingness.  
  
Upon toweling off and crawling into an oversized Citadel t-shirt and exercise pants, she wondered what to do next. She began to ring the towel through her blonde hair, now clumping together like straw and sticking to the side of her face. She ringed harder, before deciding to make her way to down to the crews quarters, hoping to avoid any of the crewmen that were moving around during the witching hour.

Once she reached her desired floor, she could hear the distant cackling of a television set. The press coverage of Earth and Palaven was running near constantly, as Diana Allers’s makeshift tv studio down in engineering made Shepard aware. The death tolls were skyrocketing as the virus-like sentient beings continued to infect more star systems and more planets across the galaxy. She was almost afraid to face the numerous injured and displaced denizens of the galaxy that cluttered the citadel hallways with makeshift beds and objects they could carry in their hands.

They were there: breathing the ash tainted air and fighting for their lives, while Shepard jetted around the galaxy, and barely getting the Councilmen and women to listen to her.  
  
She entered the recc room and sat on a bar stool, feeling her exposed legs begin to mold themselves into the leather. The bar area was pretty: the light from stars and distant planets began to refract on the clean glass and clear alcoholic bottles. She could see the various poisons of choice for the differing races, all bright colours like reds and blues, and sighed as she grabbed the clean glass near her.

She poured herself a quick drink and knocked it back. If the End of the Galaxy as they knew it didn’t make her a want alcohol, nothing would.

Behind her, she heard the mechanical door open with a whir.

“Shepard,” the familiar female voice exclaimed exasperated, “there you are.”  
  
“Liara, what do I owe the pleasure?” Shepard asked.

“You didn’t sleep either.” The Asari claimed matter of factly, her drawn on eyebrow ascending high on her blue forehead.

“Palaven and Earth,” Shepard said quietly, “Jesus, it was like nothing I’d ever seen.”

Liara’s soft musical voice began to shake.“Then I worry for the other planets then. You endured a suicide mission and here you are: drinking to forget.”

“So,” Shepard changed the subject, “what brings you here?”  
  
Liara sat next to her and grabbed a distinctly Asari beverage, “After Kaidan’s injury and Mars in general and Palaven. I can hardly catch my breath. Especially when more Shadow Broker things pile on.”

Liara poured it into a glass and began to sip it slowly, her face looking riddled with discomfort as she slowly sipped.

“What’s been going on?” Shepard inquired.

“I got hit with a breach of security that even made Glyph concerned. I am alright though and I doubt they received any pertinent information. I think it has something to do with a group I was tracking on Omega.” Liara said.

“Alright, but if this gets out of hand, you need to let me know. There are things that you have that could jumpstart wars on your terminals. You should be careful.”

“Always am, Shepard. Always am.”

***************

_‘Speaking of Omega.’_

Shepard stared at her data-pad, as she read Aria’s email in her head.

Checking on Thane and Kaidan in Huerta Memorial was a top priority, but she knew Aria and knew that if Aria wasn’t on that filthy space station, then Hell would’ve frozen over. Something happened and, if Aria had to abandon ship, it was something bad.

Shepard could hear the loud and wavering bass as she neared Purgatory: the new nightclub on the Citadel Space Station that had desperate men and watered down liquor. Why would Aria want to meet there? The doors opened as she walked in, her ears already assaulted by the sound of people shrieking over the loud techno music.

She couldn’t see Aria among the throngs of people in flashy night club attire. She even scanned the various club goers sitting down on the red velvet couches and chairs and found nothing. Shepard sighed and made her way to the bar, it was watered down, but at least it was something.  
  
“One vodka and coke with ice.” She told the bar man, as she sat down.

She heard someone sit next to her. “One whiskey. The stiffest one you have.”

His accent was deep and of latin origin.

She turned to face him to find his eyes already on her. He was around her age, maybe a couple of years younger. His eyes were a light brown and his features were soft.  
  
He chuckled darkly. “The certain Asari you’re waiting for is in a meeting with the Counselor of her people. She’ll stomp in here any minute now.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “And you are?”

“Reyes Vidal. I am a… man of many talents. I think we can help each other.”

 


	2. Rumbles of Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An uneasy alliance is formed, while a threat on the Citadel rises.

Chapter Two  
The Deal

“How so?” Shepard asked, as she picked up the fingerprint stained glass and took a swig.  
  
Reyes chuckled darkly before both he and Katia’s omni-tools began to beep unceremoniously. Katia gulped down the remaining liquid as she began to fiddle with the machine, curious as to what required both her and Mr. Vidal’s attention.

Before she could even find out for herself, Reyes’s projection was already up and running.

“It’s… Aria. Something happened after the meeting,” Reyes explained, the assuredness of his voice seemed to vanish into thin air.

Katia immediately stood up. “Is she okay?”

What she really wanted to ask is if Aria was alive.

There were a million thoughts circling through Shepard’s head. She already lost two people beyond the veil of hospital stench and sawdust flavored tray meals. If Aria had been hurt… or worse what would happen?

Reyes was swift to mitigate the situation, “she is fine, Shepard. She got arrested after the counselors meeting. She’s being held in the cells. Citadel News Net claims she is being charged with the murder of a fellow refugee a Natasha Korvus.”

She shook her head. “I-I know Commander Bailey. He can bring me up to speed. Perhaps I can meet with Aria myself and figure out the situation? Do you think she did it?” Shepard asked.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, Shepard,” Reyes began, “but she has the Asari counselor in her corner as well as a swanky rented out place above the Presidium and most of the gangs close to being on her payroll. Do you really think she would throw that all away? I mean I don’t know Korvus- maybe she was a loose end, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find that there is no correlation between the two. Some C-Sec officers just have an axe to grind and the big bad alpha of Omega is an easy target. If we’re lucky she’ll be given them some colorful curses that would make a Krogan blush as she walks out of there.”

Shepard adjusted her uniform to busy her hands as she pieced together the events leading up to this moment.

“And if we’re not?” She asked.  
  
Reyes’s confidence returned with vigor. “You’re Commander Shepard the first human Spectre, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

Shepard turned from Reyes and began to head for the door, leaving his body drenched in the neon backlight of the bar. She was nearly elbowed by tipsy patrons grasping for the light and the bartenders glasses as if they were the only thing that could save them from absolution. Katia didn’t know what the hell was going on. This ignorance to the situation was borderline inexcusable and infuriating. She could already feel the churning of some masterplan, like the ringing in her ears as the auto doors opened back to the Citadel’s grey and blue corridor. Of course, if there was one thing she was good at: it was shutting this shit down.

She pushed the button to reach the floor for Bailey’s office- double checking to make sure it was the right one. The Citadel went through some serious renovations throughout the years and the last thing she needed was to go to the wrong floor and have to sit through a deafeningly silent elevator ride all over again. As much as she didn’t want to be in a night-club for longer than she had to, at least the throbbing bass and crowd chatter masked her thoughts. There was too much riding on Katia for her to fall apart now.

The door opened and she witnessed the throngs of people lining up before the desks. Two terminally patient and exhausted Asari were the only manpower. Their eyes were marred by a feigned perky expression.

Katia overheard the loud woman running on nerves and anxiety. “My son, Armas Evant is supposed to be here. He was a farmer in one of the colonies that got hit. I tried the loading docks, but I was redirected here for some reason.”

She couldn’t process the bravery of some of the settlers or even some of the people of earth. Anderson reported that many civilians have put up arms against the Reapers- so much so that some soldiers are spending more time training people, rather than fighting in the London Ruins. Would she have enlisted now, if she was a civilian? If she was out in some colony with a civilian job? Even the “great” human spectre had to dwell on that for a brief moment.

The door activated to Bailey’s office and she walked in. Bailey looked up from his terminal and barely mustered a curt smile. “Shepard! Back so soon? What do I owe the pleasure?”

‘He always sounds so damn sarcastic,’ she thought to herself.

“I heard Aria T’Loak was arrested for murder. I was supposed to meet with her earlier today.”

“Damn, when my people got reports of her and all of the omega gangs running around the station, I knew there’d be trouble. The council is stepping on my neck to get both her and Jona Sedaris released, but I assume you can understand why I’m delaying letting a crime boss and a psychopath off the hook so quickly.”

Shepard nodded, “I did business with Aria in the past, and she was extremely cooperative with my mission. Of course I wouldn’t put murder past her, but I have reason to believe that she will be cooperative in my mission again, and you know I need all the help I can get.”

Bailey sighed and shook his head, “look I don’t give a damn about all that ‘shades of grey’ Spectre nonsense. Go to the C-Sec outpost and tell my men to let you use the terminal. You can talk to Aria from there and I’m sure one of the guards will let you access me from his desk, so you don’t have to run back up the elevator.”

Shepard ran her finger fingers through her short icy blonde hair.

“Thanks for your help, Bailey. I’ll call you soon with my findings,” she responded, almost too formally.

“Yup, I’m sure you will,” his voice sounded strained and annoyed as she turned and walked out the auto-door and onto the hallway.

Leaned up against the wall closest to the embassy desk, stood Reyes Vidal: the man of the hour. In this bright fluorescent light she could get a better look at his features. She was certain he was in his late 20’s to early 30’s with a stylish haircut and light brown-almost hazel- eyes and warm tawny brown skin. His outfit was a gray jump suit with a rigid black vest, which made him look more like a pilot rather than a man who worked with Aria. Reyes meeting her the moment things got complicated with Aria was suspicious, however. She felt bad about not trusting Reyes implicitly, especially since she had originally distrusted many of her past colleagues before, like Miranda and Jacob. But she couldn’t let him off the hook so soon.

“Have you made any progress?” He asked.

“Possibly, but I have some questions first.” Katia responded, almost sternly.

Reyes laughed, “what? You don’t trust me? Ask away.” He sounded jokingly offended.  
  
“Firstly, who the hell are you?” Shepard asked.

“I was going to tell you before we both got distracted,” he explained, “I’m just a smuggler. Aria would throw credits my way to provide updates on the going ons of the smuggler ring as well as what the general population of Omega was thinking. It was easy money.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe,” Shepard scoffed, “ and why did you come to me and not one of Aria’s people. I don’t think I saw you in her entourage on Omega.”

“Why would you remember me if you did?” Reyes asked, with a grin.  
  
Shepard rolled her eyes,” you’re dodging the question, Vidal.”

“I’m sure one of them is trying to track you down as we speak. I had been wanting to speak with you since you came back on Aria’s radar, Commander. When I said we could help each other, I meant it.” Reyes explained.

“How so?” Shepard inquired.

“Despite Aria’s objections to my decision, I have remained a free agent. Although she gave me enough clout to ignore any drinking tabs in any bar or night club in Omega, she doesn’t speak for me. There are things that I can’t do as just a civilian or just as a smuggler, things that a spectre could do easily either with your clearance or your authority. I’m suggesting a partnership- we work together, and I will offer my services both as a smuggler, an eavesdropper, and as a damn good shuttle pilot. People are talking, Shepard. They left their home-worlds in shambles and left behind priceless artifacts, documents, that can rally people to your cause. Let’s be honest, you shouldn’t have to pilot the Normandy over to some distant Asari world for some priceless relic, when you could be fighting on the frontline,” Reyes explained.

Shepard was quick to respond. “Although that’s true, I also don’t want to have some “civilian” landing on Reaper occupied worlds and getting himself killed.”

“We should speak on this some more, Shepard, once Aria is out of her cell,” Reyes said.

‘There is nothing to talk about,’ Shepard thought.

Reyes walked to the doors of the elevator with Shepard, she pressed the button and stepped in to find Reyes did not follow her inside, but rather, stood outside.

“Go talk with Aria when you’re ready, Commander. I have some other business to attend to and I’ll be right there,” Reyes said.

“You know you’re not doing anything to ease my distrust in you, Vidal.” Shepard scolded.

“Buy me a drink first, Commander. Than I’ll be more than happy to talk.” Reyes said, before playfully winking, as the elevator doors shut.

Shepard groaned and pressed the button for the commons. She knew that Reyes was going to be a problem, and she despised the piece of her that was interested by where this was going to go next.

The doors opened far too long for Shepard’s liking and she quickly made her way out of the elevator and toward the offices.

If the Alliance personnel that flocked to the night club in droves gave away the lingering anxiety of the Reaper invasion, then the commons was the best at concealing it. If you had just woken up from a coma (or from being dead in Shepard’s case many months ago), you’d believe that the only thing that changed was the floor layout. The walkways and storefronts were extremely busy: with people clustering together on park benches over data-pads, store terminals, and chattering away on comm lines as they leaned against the metal railing.

When she made her way to the offices, the turian at the desk stood up to greet her. “Hello, Commander, I have already patched you into the console above my desk as well as opened a line to Commander Bailey when you’re done.”

“Thank you, officer. Is it okay if I speak to Aria alone?” Shepard asked.

The turian nodded as he stepped outside, leaving Shepard alone with the terminal.

She pushed the button and prepared herself.

“Shepard, I am sick and tired of being treated like some sort of fucking animal in this bureaucratic hell hole. Get me out of here. Now.” Aria snarled.

“I’ll get you out as soon as possible. I just have some questions first.” Shepard said, calmly.

Aria’s face widened with shock and annoyance. “Ask,” she stated bluntly, “quickly.”

“Did you kill Natasha Korvus?” Shepard asked.

“No I didn’t kill her, Shepard,” Aria replied.

“Is it possible that she gave you a fake name or something?”

“Let me rephrase that, Shepard. I didn’t kill anyone here. Believe me, only now do I have the intent to kill something.”

“Is Reyes Vidal really your informant and a smuggler?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?” Aria responded.

Shepard started to explain, “He met with me in the bar when I was waiting for you. We got the message about you being imprisoned at the same time. He was supposed to be here as well, but he dipped out to do… I’m not sure what. What do you know about him? I’m not sure I can trust him.”

“None of my advisors do either. He’s as slippery as a Salarian, but I’d be damned if he wasn’t the best smuggler Omega ever wrangled. There’s something about him that is charismatic, even charming and collected, but also dangerous and untrustworthy. Honestly, Shepard, when you’re in this business, you learn to not trust someone as far as you can biotically throw them, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was up to no good, but he does his job and does it diligently, which makes him good in my books, although if he put me in this situation, I might change my opinion,” Aria replied.

Aria gazed into the camera, scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Goddess, I know exactly what you’re thinking. I don’t mix business with pleasure, Shepard. I’ve learned that lesson over my lifetime. Reyes has too, interestingly, enough. All reports say he’s quiet and keeps to himself. Likes his drinks though, which can be a bit of a problem when the bill collector comes around. But now that your ex-boss stole my station away from me, his enthusiasm for nightlife is the Citadel’s problem now.”

“The Illusive Man took over Omega?” Shepard inquired.

“Get me out of here now, Shepard,” Aria hissed, “and not only will I bring you up to speed, but I’ll also give you a little homecoming present.”

Shepard pushed a button on the terminal. “Bailey, I need you to release Aria T’Loak.”

“Actually, Commander, I just about to call my officer and release her myself.” Bailey said.

“That’s a surprise. You seemed pretty okay with leaving her there for the rest of her years.” Shepard stated.

Bailey sighed, “I’ll bring you and Aria up to speed as soon as I can. Meet me in the Embassies and make sure you’re crime boss friend controls herself before you visit. I don’t want my desk biotically ripped in half. Bailey out.”  
  
A familiar voice came in from the entrance, “it looks like things just got interesting.

Katia knew exactly who it was. “Reyes, what the hell is going on here?”

“I was biding my time outside, when I saw some C-Sec officers piling into a shuttle. They know Aria is innocent. I got curious and listened in to the officer’s comm chat outside. He gave me everything I needed to know. The killer struck again, Shepard. They think it’s the makings of a serial killer.” Reyes explained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to cool it with the cliff hangers XD


	3. Ghost From The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark secret from Shepard’s past returns with a vengeance.

Shepard passed through the holographic tape and into the ransacked office. The information she received from Bailey confirmed Reyes’s story. C-Sec security is now working this case as though there is an active serial killer in the space station. According to Bailey, this meant mandatory curfew, stricter regulations, and, overall, more headaches. Fantastic.

“This first victim was a young human woman, now this one is a late lifespan Salarian male,” said the turian C-Sec detective, on the opposite side of the room- barely concealed by the steel and glass desk.

Shepard followed his voice over to the body, drenched in his own fresh blue blood. His eyes were still open and shining like marbles under the ceiling lights. His expression was fixed on a vacant smile. She knew instantly he never saw it coming. His body was slumped against the window that overlooked the scurrying sky cars and tall office and residential buildings that dotted the landscape. Blue blood dripped from his lurched body and down onto the carpet.

“What makes you think this is the work of an active serial killer, if they are not killing a specific type of victim?” Shepard asked.

“We’d need the coroner to confirm, but even on first glance alone this matches the same weapon patterns of the first homicide. We ran the victim through the visitors and residents database based on formality, but we know who he is. His name was Kalion Kurdo, and we had been keeping tabs on him for a while now,” the detective replied, “he was the shady type of business man. He was reported by many of his ilk for insider trading and embezzling, as well as blackmail through corporate espionage. Rumor had it he worked closely with the shadow broker before the Geth-I mean Reaper- attack on the Citadel. He called this station home, but he had ties to Omega. That’s our connection. We believe Kurdo and Korvus have Omega connections which got them killed when the gangs swarmed in as refugees.”

A voice from beyond the doorway called out, “not just any connections, detective.”

Katia turned to face the door and found Aria already sauntering in and passing through the crime tape that approved her clearance with a chirp as she went.

“Aria, I told you and Reyes-” Shepard began.

“You may have authority over Vidal, Commander, but you have none over me. I was granted a pass by the council, call them if you really have to. I have every right to be here. Besides, this blundering idiots wouldn’t know Omega if it rose up and bit them on the ass,” Aria spat.

Shepard sighed and looked back toward the desk, the glass scattered around like breadcrumbs amongst the carpeted floor. She had denied Reyes access to the crime scene on the grounds that he very well could’ve done it and the other murder as a way to implicate Aria. If that was true, what was his motive? What would a lone smuggler have to gain from taking down the notorious leader of Omega? Why was he so interested in helping out Shepard? She had to find some evidence or some link to exonerate him or implicate him and, honestly, she didn’t know which outcome she liked best.

The detective’s voice sent Katia spiraling out of her head space. “You’re still not supposed to be here. You very well could’ve ordered the hit yourself, T’Loak.”

Aria chuckled, “and what the fuck would I do? Mess with the crime scene? Plant false evidence? I’m right here with eyes watching my every move and besides, i’m sure big bad Citadel Security could take me down. Right?” She laughed once more, as if she was egging him on to attack her.

She continued to speak.“A new group came into Omega during your house arrest, Commander. The Collective. They are shady, cautious, and the worst thing is, the leader is unknown. Agents get their jobs through secure channels. I didn’t know Korvus, but I did some digging while you "exiled” me from this office. She was an agent. I knew Kurdo- he absolutely was some sort of backer for the Collective. He used them to get his information broking rocks off, since the Shadow Broker put him in the bad boy’s corner,” Aria explained.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, “and what do The Collective do?”

Aria’s brow raised, “what don’t they do? Some members get into skirmishes with the Blue Suns and Eclipse mercs, while others do assassinations, robberies, hacks, and spying. They specialize in vigilante justice- going after notorious gang members and liberating city blocks under control. A lot of people assumed Archangel returned with a vengeance, while others think they’ve got something to hide. I don’t like them, but I respect them. Unlike most small time gangs, they have vision.”

Shepard looked from Aria back to the detective, “and, assuming her hunch is correct, what was the murder weapon at the last crime scene?”

“We’re still running scans, but it appears to be some sort of sword like weapon. Sharp and made for this sort of thing. They weren’t both killed with a standard ceramic knife, I can assure you,” the detective replied.

“So we’re dealing with a professional or a gang member,” Shepard said aloud.

Shepard spoke again, “I’ll check on my crewmates in the hospital and see if I can pry any information out of Reyes and one of my contacts. I’d like Bailey to see if he can confirm Aria’s story and, Aria, I know I can’t boss you around, so keep me posted on what your findings are. Does that sound good?”

The detective turned to face Shepard. “Here is a notepad with images from the first crime scene as well as everything else you need to know. We will be keeping in touch with you when we nail down the murder weapon and finish compiling interviews with potential witnesses.”

She thanked him, turned and headed for the elevator, hoping that she could hold down her lunch when the disinfectant and medi-gel smell hit her nose.

———————  
  
Shepard had met with some of the Drell species before and knew the basic facts of their culture and way of life previous to her Cerberus assignment. However, she had never met a Drell like Thane Krios. He was trained to be a weapon and saw the remaining days of his life in the poetic way that only a dying man would. A father, a widow, a close companion, a soul seeking atonement, and a living weapon. So many identities and he had to juggle them all.

The scrapped knuckles of their past conversations were still achingly present. The two had found themselves often in the midst of a philosophical late night conversations and battle banter while on the field. They had little to nothing in common, but they had grown close. Liara liked to believe that her and Shepard had a deep connection that bound them together, but she could not truly match the bond between Thane and the Commander.

“Katia! I’m glad to see you’re doing well. I saw what happened to Earth and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to reach you sooner,” Thane said.

“It’s been hard, Thane. I’m glad to see you’ve been staying busy. I take it your treatment is going well?” She asked.

Thane laughed, “my last doctor gave me three months and that was six months ago. I like to think that all of my past training is still keeping me alive.”

“Has Kolyat visited you recently?” She asked, sitting down on the poorly cushioned grey chair behind her.

“Oh yes, just yesterday actually. He was asking for you. He worries a lot… But he’s been good. I know it must be a lot of pressure, are you doing good?” Thane responded.

Shepard inhaled and looked inward as if she could somehow accurately assess how she was feeling and describe it to Thane in a way that made sense, but in place of that; she spoke something true, “I have a lot on my shoulders. It’s difficult to keep moving forward, but if I don’t who will?”

Thane sighed, “you cannot keep pushing yourself this hard. You and I both know that it will only cause you agony in the future.”

Shepard sighed and responded bitterly, “you must be my new appointed therapist.”

Thane barely waited a second to respond, “well I certainly was one leading up to the Collector Base.”

“Maybe I should forward your dossier to Alliance brass. They tried shoving me into a psychiatrist’s office during house arrest. It didn’t work,” Shepard said.

Thane shook his head, “and that is most certainly not a good thing. You’ve got a lot of things to talk about, Katia. Even before the Blitz and before Ashley Williams fell in battle. This war will have a death toll and if you don’t start emotionally free yourself, you will suffer. You might even break and I will be damned if I leave you in this world broken. I have worked too hard to make this world better when I leave it to let you falter.”

Shepard’s voice grew soft, “Thane, please, don’t. I don’t want to think about that right now,” she forced a smile, “you’re going to keep cheating death and you’ll watch the Reaper ships fall into deep space from your hospital windows.”

But Thane didn’t attempt to appease her with a lie, “Katia, I can’t keep living on borrowed time. My breathing is only getting worse as is. I will be dying sooner rather than later. I am at peace with that and so is Kolyat. It’s time that you are too.”

Shepard didn’t react nor speak up in response. She sighed and stood up.

“Please, Thane,” she pleaded, “take care of yourself.”

“I always do, Shepard. By the way, I saw your friend get wheeled in here a while back. I promise that I’ll do everything I can to keep an eye on him. If he’s one of yours, I know he’ll cause trouble,” Thane said with a laugh.   
  
“So long, Thane,” Shepard said with a weak smile.

She slipped into the main atrium of the hospital and made her way toward Kaidan’s hospital room. He was unconscious and badly bruised from the android fight on Mars. He laid there- his chest exposed and head tilted for the door. She had never seen him out of his Alliance uniform or armor. With the military shine stripped away, he looked like a plain and normal man you’d find stumbling around drunk on the Citadel or out with a family on Earth. She held his hand and squeezed it, biting back the urge to spill out a plea for him to get well. To do so would make it real. That sentence that Thane uttered that truly shook her to the core. That no one was truly safe. She knew it all too well, but she didn’t want to think about it. Not now, not ever.

————  
For a mysterious looming figure that operates a web full of war starting secrets, Liara is relatively easy to find. She was across the Presidium with her arms dangling over the railing as she watched the fountains shoot up into the air.

As Shepard neared her, she turned around and smiled warmly.

“Shepard, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Liara asked.

“I take it you know what C-Sec is investigating?” Shepard said.

“That I do. Unfortunately, I do not have much yet. However, I have some information on the Collective,” Liara responded, “no canonical Collective killing involved a weapon of that make. Not that it would rule out the group entirely, but that is something to keep in mind. They were the group I was tracking on Omega, Shepard. I was looking into the identity of the groups leader- known to some as The Charlatan. I have a suspicion that they are trying to hack into my database, but I have no confirmation on that.”

“What can you tell me about a man named Reyes Vidal? Is that a real name?” Shepard asked.

“Interesting,” Liara said, as she pulled out her data-pad and began typing away, “very interesting, actually. Reyes Vidal is 32 years of age. He was born in Chile to a middle-class family. His sister, Valentina Vidal, was an Alliance soldier posted to Eden Prime before Saren’s attack. She left before it, but died during the Battle of the Citadel. He moved to Omega shortly after where he did odd jobs in the marketplace. His talent as a shuttle pilot got him into the world of smuggling. I am scrolling through his business messages, but I doubt I’ll find anything incriminating. He seems to be focused on smuggling alone. He has some messages between some people outside of that realm- drinking buddies, a couple of flirty exchanges, and whatnot, but they’re very rare. He seems to be either very careful, or he’s the most boring man on Omega.”

Shepard chuckled, remembering his confidence and his tack throughout their exchange, “I don’t think “boring” is in that man’s vocabulary.”

Liara giggled, “careful, Shepard. If you say things like that, I’ll assume you like him.”

Shepard felt her face go red, having feelings for someone in her line of work was absolutely out of the question. She knew that rollercoaster all too well, and refused to allow herself to navigate that line of thinking. Reyes was a flirt, but he was a flirt in the vein of James Vega. James might make Katia blush, but at the end of the day, he knew where they stood. All she’d be doing is buying Vega a drink during shore leave and nothing more. If Reyes was truly innocent, those same parameters would apply.

She excused herself and walked toward the hallway filled with heavy traffic. The panels that covered the wall were booming with sound and vivid reds, oranges, and blues. The dim lighting above obscured the faces that passed her making every body more of a shadow that lurked beyond her peripheral vision.

She could see one barely, who turned in the middle of a moving line and turned to the advertisement, drawing the ire of the man behind him. He looked at the screen next to him and audibly voiced his confusion. Shepard didn’t know why she stopped too, but she wasn’t the only one to do so. The entire line stopped to read it, each whispering amongst themselves as they did. Shepard read the first letter and felt her blood churn within every inch of her body. Her eyes grew wide and her mind felt as if it descended down her spine and abandoned her body to the confines of the crowded hallway. She read it slowly, as if she could barely understand it.

_K,_

_You know it’s me writing you this, so I guess you can glean that this will be my final letter._  
I can’t do this anymore- I can’t run among the Alliance assholes as if I am anything but some unwanted freak. It pains me that you can just pretend to be okay, even though I know it kills you every time they ignore or mistreat you (which is too often for my taste.)  
  
I’m not doing this to make you feel bad or to make you change your mind. I know all along that you’re far too strong for me to control or handle. I want you to know that I’m gone and I’ll never see you again. I’m going out and searching for my people and, when I do, I’ll likely be blacklisted and thrown to wolves by the brass. They’ll call me a deserter, but I think they know deep down, they were the ones who abandoned me. You are the one who is abandoning me too.

_There is a part of me that still loves you and apart of me that wants in on that future you promised. But I have to move on. The doctors say I’m fine, but they don’t know anything. Without you the Alliance wouldn’t have come for me, I don’t care what you say. They would’ve left me behind to die and they will leave you to die too, mark my words. They’re scared of us. They’re scared of me now because I know the secret. I know what they’ve been keeping from me all along._

_I have a new family now and they told me about a world that is as limitless as space itself. Follow if you want- but my trail will go cold quick- lest I cause you any more trouble than I already have._

_Stay safe regardless,  
X_

She had thrown out that letter and made sure to bury any memory of it so far down the rabbit hole that no one could possibly find it, but there it was. A scarlet letter broadcast to everyone able to read it. Her dark secret- her Xavos - was now bordering on becoming exposed. If anyone with an agenda against the fight got wind of this- the implications could be disastrous for the Alliance. She felt her stomach drop as she began a frantic pace to the Normandy. Could she trust Liara? Could she trust Thane? Who could have done this? Who could’ve known that all those years ago that she and Xavos were more than just in the same graduating class from the Academy? She felt the paranoia from the letter seeping into her world and infecting her with an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Katia had some dirty laundry, and now, she was forced to air it.   
———

It’s very easy to buy into the ‘Shepard mythos:’ the images of her on the net with the phrase “WONDER WOMAN” as the caption and as a badge of honor. She remembered Liara sending her a massive compilation of tutorials on how to make her breast-plate and gauntlets out of foam core. She certainly remembered the massive production company bidding war for a Shepard biopic.

“The First Human Spectre,” the “Battle Maiden,” “Lady Lazarus,” “The Hero of the Citadel,” she had heard all of the nicknames and read all the headlines. From the outside looking in, it might be easy to assume that she was a symbol or something beyond human. But Katia far from the glaze of flawlessness and frequently dabbled in bad decision making. Some humans don’t see the point of romance and attraction, and Katia, unfortunately, wasn’t one of them. It was extremely rare for her to feel something romantic for another, and when she did it didn’t become some exciting event with electric banter and sly flirtation, it became a problem.

And one of those problems went by the name of Xavos Iliad. When Katia enlisted at the age of 18, she was thrown into the Alliance Academy and into the world of mud crawls, gun fire, and food thats taste bordered on being a war crime. Although, she led her mother to believe that she had found her calling amongst Alliance ranks, she had been insecure and confused. She was a biotic, a powerful one, and nearly everyone had taken notice. When she enlisted, being an L3 was relatively new and with her skill at throwing and warping targets with relative ease- she had grown used to eating meals alone. Then she met Xavos. Then everything changed.

It started out innocent enough- he was a fellow biotic that was growing increasingly isolated. He was new to the military way of living, she was from a long line of vets and servicemen. It didn’t break any rules, Shepard made sure of it, but their relationship shifted as time went on, and became gravely serious very quickly. Soon, three years had passed, and it was assumed that whatever Shepard had planned in the future- be in employment within the Alliance, children, etc, Xavos was involved.   
  
She shook the memories from her mind and began to march toward the elevator. She didn’t know where Reyes was, but she knew the place to start.

She stewed in the elevator, thanking the Maker or the Goddess or whomever was above that she was in the elevator alone. The doors opened after a minute or so and she marched toward the auto-door of Purgatory. She pushed through the couples that leaned up against the wall in intimate conversations and the drunken stumbles of bachelor parties and onto the dance floor.

She didn’t expect to find him there, but there he was sitting alone by the dance floor. An opened bottle of whiskey was catching the purple and blue light that flashed above.

He caught her eye as she walked toward his table. “Shepard!” He cried out happily.

“You,” she spat, as she walked over to his seat, fully intending on dragging him out of it, “how did you know? How did you find the letter? Who do you work for?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He said defensively.   
  
“You knew I would be in the hallway, you knew I would read the letter. Answer my damn questions before I throw you into a cell!” Her voice was dripping with authority, and barely holding back the rage she felt inside.

Suddenly, Liara immediately ran in and sandwiched herself between the two of them. “Shepard! He’s innocent!”

“What?” Shepard asked her.

“Alliance brass intercepted this. It’s a letter from an unidentified location. It claims responsibility for the murders. It’s Cerberus.” Liara forced the data-pad into Shepard’s grasp.

**Shepard,**

**I suppose it’s rude to not introduce myself after I know so much about you. Do you really think that we didn’t scrub through every detail of your past during Project Lazarus? You can thank your friend Miranda for this little ghost from your past- she was always so wonderfully thorough. The Illusive Man has reach beyond your limited imagination and boundless resources.**

**I had my fun on the Citadel with those Collective agents and sympathizers, but I suppose I must take my leave… for now. I’m about to be busy being on the right side of this war. Maybe I’ll bump into that merc ex-boyfriend of yours and do you a favor? Decisions, decisions. Don’t try to find me and don’t try to stop me. I’m, frankly, way above your pay grade.**

**Can’t wait to finish this-**

**Kai Leng**

Shepard read it and then reread it.

“I should’ve known Cerberus was behind this,” Shepard said quietly, “Liara, I need everything you know on Kai Leng.”

Reyes made eye contact with Shepard, “I can help in anyway I can.”

Shepard took a moment before speaking to him, “I’m sorry I doubted you and didn’t trust you, Reyes. I still don’t think I trust you completely. But if you think you can help find Kai Leng, then I need all the help I can get.”

Liara put her hand on Shepard’s shoulder, “I know this will be hard for you Shepard. But if this ex of yours is in danger, I’m going to need to know everything about him.”

Shepard sighed, “he’s probably under an alias and long gone into Terminus space, but I’ll give you all that I can. You should probably reach out to Hackett and ask for the file on the biotic extremist group Artemis. Last I heard of him, he was affiliated with them.”   
  
Reyes’s eyes widened with surprise, “you don’t mean _that_ Artemis, do you?”

Shepard barely reacted, “that I do, Vidal. There’s a reason I’ve been keeping it to myself all these years.”

“I’ll coordinate my research on the Citadel with Aria, since I doubt you’d want me any where near the Normandy,” Reyes offered.

“Good suggestion, I’ll work on some of our more prioritized missions with Primarch Victus and try to keep my mind away from this mess,” Shepard said, “I abandoned my old life with Xavos long ago, and he has a lot to answer for, but I can’t give him up to Cerberus. No matter what.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This development might be a smidge controverisal, but, nothing ventured- nothing gained. Am I right? :) 
> 
> Hope you liked it!


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